Instrument flying training goggles



NOV. 16, 1954 c, R Nc s r 2,694,263

INSTRUMENT FLYING TRAINING GOGGLES Filed April 12, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet lNOV. 16, 1954 e. c. FRANCIS ETAL 2,694,263

INSTRUMENT FLYING TRAINING GOGGLES Filed April 12, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 2W11 WM 2,

. Md '7. fattenson 1954 G. c. FRANCIS ETAL INSTRUMENT FLYING TRAININGcoccuas 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 12, 1951 fzl nenwrs eralafi 6:Wane/s n d, '7? 7525220600 ill Q2 11- United States Patent '6 Thepresent invention relates to'the artof instructing,

andnchecking aviators in aircraftoperation by instruments, commonly:referred 'to' as :instrument flight, and

moreparticularly, this inventionris' concerneduwith means.

for .limiting the aviators' or pilots visioniin such: a manner that the.instrument panel only -is .visiblenordf same isadjusted for visualflight, the'instrument panel isnot visible.

In. instrument fiying 'and. in the-attaining of pilots as well as whenundergoingrtests in the presence of an instructor' or inspector, it hasbeen the practice vto either provide a: plane .Witlf azcockpitwhichJcanvbe-completelY covered'or to employcertain polarizedfiglasswhichprevents the pilot or aviator froms seeing out of the cockpit. To dothis,..it is necessary that .the pilot wear polarized goggles as .will?prevent-:him from seeing-outfof. the cockpit. The inspector or co-pilotdoes not wearthese goggles, and he can see through the polarized glass,but his vision is nevertheless somewhat impaired by thepolarized orcolored glassscoveringz-ofwtheecockpitt. At night, or at twilight andunder certain atmospheric conditions, the vision ofthe co-pilot,instructor: or inspector is very seriously impaired, Other-types ofequipment embody arhood between the-pilots headand the. instrumentpanel, but such a'hood, which shrouds the panel isunsatisfactor-yibecause the instructorsor. inspector-cannot see theinstrument panel.

A fiig'ht instrument,.to bewornby thepilot as previously developed byapplicants and which is described and claimed in PatentNo- 2,522,938,issued September 19, 1950, employs mirrors whichmay be adjustable ifdesired, and these have provedwquite:satisfactory.

It is the object of this invention to eliminate the necessity for 'suchcomplicated airplane-installations by 'providi'ng a convenientaccessorywhich *can'be wornby the pilot and'ireadilyadjusted to limit'the pilotsfield of 4 vision solely' to the instrumentpanel'; This accessory whenproperly fittedaandnadjusted' willlimit the-pilots field ofvision-to.theinstrument panel; and will prevent him from seeing anything else,and the vision of the co-pilot, instructor or inspector is not impairedin any way.

More particularly, when using this accessory, which more nearlyresembles a pair of ordinary goggles, the pilot may readily adjust theaccessory on his eyes or raise his head to see over the dash and vieweverything as readily as if he did not have the accessory covering hiseyes, but when doing so, his vision of the instrument panel is blockedoff. Therefore, the pilot can look over the horizon, or can view theinstrument panel, but cannot do both at the same time.

For a more detailed understanding of the invention reference may be hadto the accompanying drawings illustrating preferred embodiments of theinvention wherein like characters refer to like parts throughout theseveral views, and in which Fig. l is a side elevational view of a partof an airplane, with parts broken away showing a pilot in position andusing an accessory constructed in accordance with this invention.

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the goggle like accessory.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal plan and sectional view as taken substantially onthe line 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view thereof taken on the line 4-4 ofFig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 5-5 oflr'BigaZandshowingrthe accessory adjustedm.onwthe.- pilotrs'tacet sothat hisvisiontis trestrictedssolelyato a view:-

straight I out from of the: instrument. panel.

F ig'a Gtisa isimilar verticals sectional. 'viewz-showing; theaccessoryz'adjusteduon the pilots :face so: that his vision.

of 5the=i1istnument panel is blocked,(hut1 hisvision .of the h'oni-zomis unimpaired.

Fig 7 is =.a similar. sectional view 'showing-how the pilot: must:raisehis headiito lookisout of thesainplane. when. said accessory isadjusted as shown in Fig. 5, but when so. doing; his vision ofthetinstrument panel is blocked.

Fig: 8zis afront elevational: view..of-a.=goggle like accessory'constructedsto: embody awmodified construction; and Fig. 9 isa-vertical sectional view. showing the accessory adjustedstoz the pilotsfacetanduinr which'xadjustment he may-:view the \instrument-Jpanel,.andramap or=other instructional data sheet onrhis lap' 'or mountediconveniently belowithe :instrument panel;

The :referencezcharacterv 10 represents the fuselage of an? airplane,1-1 ith'e: transparent. canopy over the cockpit, 12 the instrument panelrcarried: "on the instrumentboard 13,1the pilot 14 seatediin=theacockpit 151in a position .so he :normallya can: :view the horizon.

The preferred embodiment of this invention'scomprises a portableinstrument means such "as 'a 1 goggle-like structure 20, beingpreferably secured to the pilots head by meansmfsan:elastic-strap-orband 21 slipped'around the backzzof the=head; This structurewisi formed'of .an' opaque substance andais .preferablyz'molded'or otherwise suitably/formed. to. provide iaibody portion having a 'hoodstructuresZprovidedwith rear edges shaped'to generally conformato;.the:contour 'of the face, said rear edges being boundz'by .a'bead:23. made :of soft .spongerubber or other suitabletsoftz-andiyielding-material; The..hood structure preferablyextendsto-substantially enclosetheneyes and for-ms =azcontinuouswallstructureover the top and'tothe outsidezofnthe:eyes,:.and partiallybelow the eyes as well. The bead i23,.=closely contacts zthe: pilots'forehead, and the-:temples and the cheek below'the eyes,- as swillbereadily apparent:

The :front. :walli :24 of :this 'hood' Estructure is recessed as at,25:-so-;:as to fitiover the pilots nose, the sides of this recess:zbeingt'adapted 'to rlie isu'bstantially- "close "alongsidethecsides-ofi the pilots'nose: To'eitherside' ofthe recess 25;arecopenings'26,--' each opening; being: elongated horizontally andhaving outeri'ends. quite rounded.(see- Figs.

2 and 8). Above these openings 26 and extendingabove both-sofisaidiopenings, .is' a pforwardly projecting shield structure-:27; thisashields. portion preferably extending the Wall2'24-T and beingdownwardly turned at. the sides rtopartially enclose the openings .26.-

Thisportable-instrument means sisadapted to be fitted on'thepilotszface, .whose :eyes-arearalignedr with respect to the openings 26.Reference character 28 (Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 9) designate the pilots eyes,and it will be observed that the front wall 24 is spaced laterally infront of the eyes a distance usually varying about from one inch to oneand one-half inches. The instrument may be initially adjusted up or downon the pilots face and for use as a blind flying instrumentality, sothat the pilot can fly on instruments, and is thus adjusted to theposition generally shown in Fig. 5. In this position, the line of visionis restricted solely to the instrument panel 12. The line of vision isdiagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 5, and it will be noted that theupper extent of this line of vision falls below the top of the cockpit,and the pilot is unable to see over the side or above the upper rim ofthe cockpit, this blocked out region being indicated in Fig. 5 by theshaded area 29. Thus the hood is dimensioned to space the aperturedfront wall with respect to the pilots eye, so that a given dimension ofthe opening in said front wall of the hood or casing will subtend anangle, with the pilots eye at the apex thereof, substantially the sameas the angle subtended by a corresponding dimension of the apparent areaof the instrument panel.

In order for the pilot to see over the side of the cock pit, he musttilt his head back (see Fig. 7) or adjust the position of the flightinstrument on his face (see Fig. 6), and in both instances, it will benoted that the opaque wall portion 30 lying immediately below theopenings 26 will block his vision of the instrument panel. Thus 6.Eatented vNov. 16,,1-954.

the pilot can either see out or can view the instrument panel, but hecannot do both at the same time. The upper edge 31 of wall portions 30,which form the lower edge of the openings 26 is substantially straightand horizontal, and when the pilot substantially aligns this edge 31with the lowest extremity or edge of the instrument panel, the flightinstrument is adjusted for instrument flying, his vision beyond or abovethe upper edge of the instrument panel being completely blocked off. Thedepth of these openings 26 are such, and the laterally spacing of thewall 24 forwardly of the edges is such that the pilots vision is limitedsolely to the panel 12, when so adjusted so as to be aimed at saidinstrument panel.

In the modified structure illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9, the instrumentis constructed substantially like the structure of Fig. 2 insofar as thehood structure and Wall 24, openings 26 and shield is concerned. Thewall portion 30a below the eye openings 26 is partially cut away frombelow, so the pilot can turn his eyes downwardly and view a map or otherflight data carried on his lap or other convenient support, the wall 30aeffectively producing a no vision zone (see Fig. 9) so that theinstrument panel 12 is blocked off when the pilot tilts his head oradjusts the flight instrument so as to see out the cockpit.

The dimensions of this instrument have been determined to conform ingeneral to the usual airplane construction, and these constructionspermit of some variation without destroying the eflectiveness of theinstrument.

Such an instrument as is herein described is particularly applicable anddesirable for use in routine instrument instruction and practice flying,all pilots being required to compile a minimum number of hours ofinstrument flying to secure and maintain their pilots license, and toperiodically pass tests before an inspector.

The above described instrument is particularly useful during instructionand inspection because the copilot or inspector has clear vision at alltimes of the instrument panel as well as out the cockpit, while thestudent or pilot has only a limited vision, and can only see over thecockpit if he raises his head an abnormal amount. If a pilot did raisehis head to see over the cockpit, or adjusted the instrument on his faceto raise his line of vision, the inspector or instructor will veryreadily spot this act.

It will be apparent to anyone skilled in the art to which this inventionpertains that various modifications and changes in design andconstruction may be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention or from the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A vision limiting device for use in the instruction and checking ofpilots in aircraft operation by instruments, said device comprising aportable opaque hood structure consisting of unitary top and side wallsand a single transverse planar front wall, the rear edge of said top andside walls being contoured to snugly fit a pilots brow, cheeks and nosethereby enclosing his eyes, and

such top and side walls being of a length to position the front wall insubstantial spaced relation to the eyes, said planar front wall beingprovided with horizontally elongated sight openings disposable in frontof the eyes and of a size to restrict the pilots vision to substantiallythe area of an aircraft instrument panel when the pilot is in normalaircraft-operating position relative to such panel; and means forreadily removably securing said hood structure in position against apilots face.

2. In the art of instructing and checking pilots in aircraft operationby instruments, a portable instrument means for limiting the vision ofthe pilot to the instrument panel and comprising an opaque casing openat the rear and having a front wall provided with a pair of openingsrespectively adapted for alignment with the pilots eyes, said casinghaving a hood portion extended rearwardly from said front wallsubstantially from the periphery thereof and terminating in a contouredge adapted to snugly abut against the pilots face, and means forsecuring said casing on the pilots face, said hood having a dimensionwhich spaces said apertured front wall of the casing with respect to thepilots eye so that a given dimension of the opening in said front wallof the casing will subtend an angle, with the pilots eye at the apexthereof, substantially the same as the angle subtended by acorresponding dimension of the apparent area of the instrument panel,said front wall portion of said instrument means terminating in ahorizontally extending recessed straight edge extending substantiallythe full effective width of said instrument and providing an open spaceunderlying said pair of openings through which said pilot may view a mapor other flight data disposed on the pilots lap or in a region adjacentthereto within the cockpit.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,844,232 Tharp Feb. 9, 1932 2,172,287 Loy Sept. 5, 19392,255,197 Thomas Sept. 9, 1941 2,270,238 Clarke et a1. Ian. 20, 19422,388,574 Ring Nov. 6, 1945 2,393,533 v Heinz Jan. 22, 1946 2,475,522Scherkenbach July 5, 1949 2,522,938 Francis et al. Sept. 19, 19502,591,752 Wicklund Apr. 8, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country DateGreat Britain Jan. 23, 1903 16,049 Great Britain July 5, 1910 72,947Austria Ian. 10, 1917 118,057 Great Britain Aug. 15, 1918 850,963 FranceDec. 30, 1939

